My mum had a go at making some bread yesterday. She also had a problem with the dough not rising. She did complain about the yest not showing my life in the water. I read Snags' post and I decided to carry out an experiment. I went and got some bottled water and warmed it and added some yeast and it was noticeably showing more activity than the times I've added yeast to the mains water. I wonder if this is where the problem lies. I didn't have any flour left and once I get some, I'll post the results. Has anybody else had trouble with their water source not being ideal for bread making?

Snags wrote:My water pump broke and I had to switch to town water for a weekMy bread didn't rise.Town water is full of chlorine that kills yeastMy tank water is pure rain water.Pump fixed back to tank and the bread rose again.

I only use filtered mains water, you can let mains water stand for a few hours or boil it and allow to cool to remove chlorine.

I am relatively new to bread making but it was making Wheels rolls that really gave me the passion to pursue this art.

Due to problems i have to use a bread maker to knead, (panasonic), for an every day loaf i use basically wheels recipe but as follows.

150grams of Hovis Granary Bread Mix.

450 grams of Lidl british bread flour.(12.5% protein)

2 tsp of sea salt.

10 grams allinson easy bake yeast (its in canisters in Asda)

120 ml of milk (i use skimmed)

300 ml of water.

60 ml rapeseed oil.

I put all ingredients into bread maker and set on Pizza dough cycle.
After 15 mins i stop the bread maker, leave 5 mins,tip out and shape with gentle touch, put in loaf tin and allow to rise until top is domed. dust with flour into a 180º pre heated fan oven for 30 mins tip out and cool.

I never knock back dough now, i cannot see the point in it, i believe it was done to redistribute the yeast and air pockets to make a finer textured bread,i can only speak from what i do but knocking back on the kneading time within Reason) and not knocking back hard gives me a lovely textured bread.

I get good oven spring at 180º, I found that leaving it to proof too long meant i lost the oven spring.

I read somewhere that the Easy bake yeast is more potent than the easy blend yeast.

I have tried many different flours and due to comments on many web sites that supermarket flour was c**p i even tried several lots from Shipton mills, alas I rate Lidl own bread flour above it but thats only my opinion.

And so I continue to love this home bread making quest with sincere thanks to The Wheels Rolls where it all began.

Regards Gary.

My biggest fear in life is that when I die my wife sells all my stuff for what I told her I paid for it!!

If your kitchen (or wherever you are proving the bread) isn't very warm, or is draughty, you might find it takes longer to rise.
We found a cheap way of cheating, that works very well, but would probably have the purists reaching for the shotgun

Take 2-4 clean, old socks (make sure they aren't full of holes), and fill each with about 500g of the cheapest rice you can get (supermarket own brand is perfect) and tie the ends.
Whilst the dough is in the mixer, put the socks in the microwave for 5-10mins (as we knead the dough for 10mins, we put them on for 8-9 mins, so the timing is just right). Once done, cover the dough with oiled cling film or a damp towel and pop the bowl in the microwave with the socks around it, and shut the door (but DON'T put the microwave on :p ). Leave in the microwave until the dough has at least doubled in size.

Take the bowl of dough out, and put the micro on for 2-3 mins.
Knock back the dough and knead for a couple of minutes, shape and put into the loaf tin (if using) and leave to rise again for 15-30mins in the microwave again (surrounded by the socks) before baking.

The socks act as heat bags, and the warm rice also produces a moist atmosphere in the microwave.

We've used this method for about a year, and only had one failed loaf.
We only use the Alinsons Fast Action dried yeast (the green one - you can get it in a tin, just like the yellow one) and Lidl's bread flour (or Asda's if we aren't going to Lidl)

We use two different soft white recipes - Wheels Soft Rolls and a variation on one by Michelle Roux Jr (I can post that if anyone wants it), both work very well with white, whole meal or a combination of the two.

kimgary wrote:I have tried many different flours and due to comments on many web sites that supermarket flour was c**p i even tried several lots from Shipton mills, alas I rate Lidl own bread flour above it but thats only my opinion.

I made some bread using bottled water and following the recipe posted by wheels. Turned out very well. So, I think it was a problem with the water. Mum also made some using firstly mains water and she threw the dough away because it didn't rise. She then made two beautiful loaves using bottled water. Thank you all. I'm sure I'll have more questions later as I'm still only learning.